Before long, dormitories and libraries at Illinois’ institutions of higher learning could be lonely places. In its biennial report on the U.S. higher education system released today (PDF), the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education has given the Prairie State an “F” for its ability to provide access to affordable college education. If action isn’t taken, some fear a college education will soon be out of reach for a majority of students.
To be fair, Illinois is not the only state struggling with affordability. In fact, California (which boasts a relatively inexpensive community college system) was the only state to earn a passing grade in the category. Nationally, published college tuition and fees increased 439 percent from 1982 to 2007, adjusted for inflation, while median family income only rose 147 percent.
But the data is particularly grim in the Land of Lincoln. The average net cost -- one year’s tuition, fees, room and board, minus financial aid -- at a two-year community college was 24 percent of the state’s median family income, up from 19 percent just eight years ago. The average net cost of a four-year public school reached a whopping 35 percent, a 16 percent boost since 2000.
For families whose income ranks in the lowest 40 percent, the costs are even more prohibitive, totaling 37 and 53 percent of family income for community colleges and public universities, respectively. And while Illinois invests a considerable amount of resources into need-based financial aid compared to the federal dollars it receives, that ratio has decreased from 89 percent to 82 percent since 1993.
Equally depressing is the fact that the current economic downturn is not reflected in these figures. As the center’s president Patrick Callan told the AP, when state budgets get tight, higher education funding is often first on the chopping block. If colleges take the cuts in stride, the state will often turn a blind eye to tuition hikes. This scenario seems to be unfolding yet again in Illinois. Just this week, Gov. Rod Blagojevich revoked a $2.1 million increase planned for Illinois State University’s fiscal 2009 budget. That followed Blagojevich’s request last Friday for Illinois’ universities to place 2.5 percent of their budgets in reserves, which could knock out $35 million from the budgets of four-year universities and $8 million from community colleges.
What fixes could help solve the problem? One would be an amplification of the federal Pell Grant program, which has increased the college attendance rates of low-income students. President-elect Barack Obama, who issued some encouraging proposals to increase access during the campaign, could also appoint an Education Secretary from the higher ed community who would have more intimate knowledge of the issues at hand. Some have floated the name of University of Maryland-Baltimore County President Freeman Hrabowski, although he’s reportedly not interested. Changing the way states fund higher ed is central to this debate as well. Callan elaborates on this point to the New York Times:
“When the economy is good, and state universities are somewhat better funded, we raise tuition as little as possible,” he said. “When the economy is bad, we raise tuition and sock it to families, when people can least afford it. That’s exactly the opposite of what we need.”
But don’t hold your breath. As Arthur Levine, president of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation writes at Inside Higher Ed, politics and finances will force Obama to scale back his plans. Expect the same in Illinois.
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